It's Black and White, Right?
by baka-neko-fan
Summary: Yaoi ShikimixTaki. Rated for later. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

The Baka strikes again! Hehe… Well, seeing as I have nothing to rant about this time, I suppose it's time to say: Enjoy, folks! Also~ there are a few spoilers included, so, don't think I'm making crap up when I say something that sounds weird. I promise that everything, at least in this chapter, with the exception of Laz is true.

Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, I wouldn't have to write a fiction, would I?

It was not uncommon for people to go into town to buy food and clothing, or anything else they needed… Yet, as these three men(?) walked down the street, the town seemed to freeze. Everyone was staring at them with sheer terror in their eyes. And one of the men (sort of) was not too fond of this attention. Of course, none of them were happy, but, the other two had much more control over their emotions. "Shikimi! Why do they keep staring at us?" Laz questioned, grabbing onto the priest's arm, "It's giving me the creeps."

"Get over it. This always happens, Laz. You just never go anywhere with us." Taki told the he-she with a sigh.

"Whyyyyy?" Laz whined, "We didn't do anything wrong!"

"It's because of who we are." Shikimi replied simply, "They don't like what we do, and they don't like me for obvious reasons…"

"But you're so nice… How could anybody hate you?" Laz questioned, though she really knew the answer. It was all about his past… And his hair proved who he was.

"Laz, would you please shut up? You're really starting to give me a headache. We left to get away from the screaming children, not to listen to one." Taki mumbled.

"Who're you calling a kid? I'm no kid!" Laz snapped, "I'm a man!"

"Here we go again…" Shikimi muttered, attempting to ignore the two. Ever since Taki's siblings had moved in, the church had become much noisier… So, to escape it, they would go to town on occasion Laz had also changed, and not nessecarily for the better. She had become immature, and seemed to want nothing more than to get on everyone else's nerves. Especially Taki's. Shikmi was sure that all she really wanted was his attention, but this certainly wasn't the way to go about gettning it; she was only making him angry.

"You act like a kid!" Taki mumbled angrily. He wanted to mention the fact that she was not really a man, but, he knew Shikimi was right in what he'd said previously. He had to treat her like another sister.

"You jerk! You're more immature than I am! Who's the one that can't even read? Not me! I read just fine!" Laz boasted with a grin.

"So what?! Who's the one that's always left cleaning up your messes, and taking care of the undead?!" Taki argued angrily.

"There wouldn't be half as much of a mess if you didn't have Agi! She's always making messes!"

"Like I want her there!"

"You do! If you hated her that much you wouldn't have gone looking for her when she went missing!"

"Laz, Taki, that's enough." Shikimi interjected quietly, "Remember where you are." Both of them froze and glanced around themselves. The entire town, it seemed, had their fearful eyes on them, even now, but now they seemed even more frightened. The moment either of them looked at the townspeople, they would turn away, as if they'd seen nothing. "Taki, I don't think it was wise to speak of the undead so loudly in town."

"Yeah! Stupid Taki!"

"Shut up, Laz, you started it!"

"And now I'm finishing it. Please, both of you stop or go back home."

Both Laz and Taki mumbled, almost in unison, "Sorry, sensei."

"Thank you. Now, Laz, what did you say we needed before?"

"Oh… Some more bread. That's about it." Laz replied, refusing to make eye contact.

"Taki?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we will have some work tonight." Shikimi said simply before he began walking again. The two of them followed in silence, understanding exactly what had been meant by that. Though for right now, all that mattered was bread. They could think about work later.

"Hey, Taki?" Laz asked quietly, as both of them were hanging behind Shikimi a bit.

"What now?" Taki asked, figuring the crosdresser had something stupid to say.

"What're you going to tell your mom? Won't she want to know where you're going?"

"She'll be so busy putting everyone to bed she won't even notice." Taki replied, "And if she did, I could always tell her we forgot something when we went shopping."

"I guess…" Laz muttered, but something didn't seem right to her. Something in the pit of her stomach was telling her there would be trouble tonight… But she couldn't tell Taki that. He wouldn't listen anyway.


	2. Time to die

Sorry it took so long. I'm a terrible person, I know... Please refrain from killing me until I end at least one of these fanfictions!

* * *

Taki had been helping his mother put his siblings to bed when the unwanted helper- Agi- charged off of one of the boys' beds to the door. Taki knew without looking who it was, as he'd grown accustomed to sensing him. Shikimi, of course. Though the demon that had once been with the priest now resided in Taki's body, a bit of its' presence still lingered, and Taki was still able to feel it. "I'll be done in a few minutes, sensei." He murmured, pulling a blanket over the child who lie beneath him.

"_Now, _Taki." There was a clear urgency in the former demon's voice that sent a shiver down the boy's spine.

He sighed and glanced up at his mother apologetically, "I'll be back in a bit," He said softly, backing away from the bed to where Shikimi stood. His mother, concerned and confused, nodded as if she understood. Of course there was no way of knowing that her son was going off to kill the undead.

"My mother's going to start to worry, you know," Taki warned when they were safely out of said woman's earshot. "You could have at least waited until-"

"It couldn't have waited." Shikimi stated, cutting Taki off, "It couldn't have waited. I was wondering why I was able to sense it so early in the day, but I understand now. I assumed that the undead could only rise at night... But I didn't think of those like Grey and Agi... I believe that whatever it is we're facing is already awake, and may have been for several hours."

Taki's heart nearly stopped, "Like Grey? You mean they're _intelligent,_ too?"

Shikimi nodded, his expression unusually grim, "The longer we wait, the more time it has to re-gain it's strength."

"And we don't have the power of instant regeneration on our side anymore, either," Taki added quietly, resting a hand against his chest where he knew the demon lie dormant inside of him.

Shikimi's familiar forced smile returned as he rested a hand on Taki's shoulder. "We can handle it." He stated with utmost confidence, "We'll just have to be more careful than usual."

Taki returned the smile, though his was pure and true as always, "Yeah, we can take it." He agreed. Sometimes, ignorance truly is bliss.

They arrived at the cemetery in relatively good time, as they had been walking at a brisk pace, and they could already see that something was off. Well, several somethings. The most noticeable was the fact that there was a large gathering of people slowly approaching the place of mourning. This might not be unusual if a funeral had been taking place, but those rarely took place after sunset. The next anomaly was much smaller and much less noticeable. Leading the pack of people by several feet was a young boy who appeared to be no older than seven, though he was little more than a shadow in the night. "What're they doing?" Taki wondered aloud, glancing over at Shikimi.

The priest replied, "Perhaps they think they can meet us at the cemetery and ambush. They already know what we do there. Whatever the case, be on your guard, Taki."

"Yeah, I know," Taki agreed, and, with this, they continued walking towards the mob of people. It didn't take long to catch up with them, and soon enough they were close enough to hear that the boy was humming rather loudly, his voice smooth and rhythmic. "What's he doing?" Taki wondered aloud, glancing over his shoulder at Shikimi. When he received no response, he stopped walking and called out softly, "Sensei? Are you feeling okay?" Shikimi, however, did not stop walking, and it wasn't long before he disappeared amongst the mass of other followers. Naturally worried, Taki shoved his way into the crowd, searching for the silver hair that he knew would stand out against the black of night... But he could see nothing. "Sensei?" He called, his voice soft. He would have spoken more loudly had the older man not suggested that they were being hunted by the people that now surrounded him. Drawing attention to himself could only cause problems. Suddenly, Taki found himself standing alone in front of the young boy he'd noticed earlier. Apparently, without him realizing, the mob had stopped moving, though he, in his search to find Shikimi, had not. He stopped moving, and his eyes met the child's. Now, with the full moon high above them, Taki could see that the boy had blonde hair and blue eyes... Just like Grey. His hand automatically went to rest on the blade he had concealed in his jacket.

"There's no need for that," The boy's velvety voice stated as he snapped his fingers. Taki soon found himself being held in place by two strong, older men. "I was almost afraid this wouldn't work, but, alas, you really are gullible."

"What are you talking about?" Taki asked, still not quite able to put all of the pieces of this puzzle together. There was _one_part that he was certain of, however. The reason that this child had stood out in his mind before was not the fact that he was just a little bit ahead of the gang, but because of his blood. This boy was the one that Shikimi had sensed. _He_ was the risen dead.

"I noticed that there were several graves that were missing caskets. A missing casket means a missing body... I knew that if there were still living villagers, someone must have been taking care of the undead bodies... So I asked around town and found out about you. I may be young, but I've done my research. My father was a Demon Slayer, and he wanted me to do the same. He would his research material aloud so that I would be well-informed. I know all about you nightlings." Taki's body tensed at the word. He was still hesitant to accept the fact that he was, in fact, half zombie. "But my father was a fool. He tried to create a nightling himself, using my mother. He made a test-tube baby using the sperm of an undead man and an egg of my mother... And it killed her. She died while giving birth to my younger half-brother. Foolishly, my father tried to raise the child, but it was hardly able to breathe on its own. I saw all of this happening, so I killed him." Smirking, he added, "I killed my little brother, drowned him in a bath of his own blood-"

"Did you drink any of it?" Taki prodded, though he already knew the answer. It was already clear to him what had happened.

"No, I didn't. My father, insane with grief for once in his life decided that I should die of the same fate and drowned me, too. I guess it's possible that some of the blood got in my mouth when he did, but I don't know. It doesn't matter, anyway. What matters now is that I am going to get my revenge, starting with you. I won't allow any more nightlings to interfere with death!" He pointed an accusing finger at Taki, who was now glancing around nervously.

"What did you do to these people?"

"They're under my command. I discovered a neat little trick a few hours ago. My voice is able to control the actions of normal humans. Obviously, nightling, you're not normal." For a brief moment, Taki wondered why Shikimi had been affected, but it didn't take long to remember. Shikimi no longer had the demon inside of him. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the child, "No more questions, nightling! It's time for you to die!" Taki closed his eyes as his knife was torn from his clenched fist and stabbed into his chest. With a bloodcurdling scream, he fell to the ground and everything went black.

* * *

Notice how I didn't say "the end." The story's not over yet, don't worry. There hasn't even been any fluff yet! I don't know if it's possible for zombies to control the living like I did, but I don't really care. Looking at everything Grey can do, I figured I might as well. I'll hopefully update this soon... Soon meaning _soon,_ not almost a year later.


	3. Agi's useful!

"Mmnnggg," Taki grumbled as he reached down to touch his chest. He found that it was surprisingly bare... And wet. He raised his hand to examine the fluid, finding that it was not blood, but something clear and a bit sticky. Then he noticed something that was most certainly out of place. A ceiling. He sat up suddenly, instantly regretting it as pain shot through his body. He screamed involuntarily, clutching his chest tightly.

"Taki! Shhh! You're going to wake your mother!" A soft, familiar voice said beside him.

"Laz... What...?"

"Agi followed you guys and brought me to come get you. What happened?" She asked, her voice dripping with concern.

"Sensei- where's sensei?" He demanded, looking over at the girl.

"Sensei wasn't there. Why? What happened to him?"

"That kid must've taken him..." Ignoring the excruciating pain in his chest, Taki forced himself to stand.

"Taki, calm down!" Laz scolded, pushing him back down onto the bed, "Let Agi and I look for him, you need to rest!"

"No," Taki grumbled, "He'll get you too. His voice affects normal humans."

Laz tilted her head to the side, a little bit confused. "Okay, tell me what happened from the beginning." She stated as Agi crawled up on the nightling's lap, licking his chest. At least the mystery of the slobber was solved.

"Alright..." Taki said with a sigh, resting his hand on the undead puppy's head as he recounted all of the night's events.

"But what's the id planning on doing with all of those people?" Laz wondered aloud.

"Who knows? Start a revolt? Search and destroy any and all nightlings?" He sighed, despising his genetic makeup. "Whatever the case, I've got to find and stop him before anybody gets hurt. Are you sure there was nobody else in the cemetery when you found me?"

"Not a soul," Laz confirmed, shaking her head. She paused, sitting down beside Taki, and asked, "Do you really have to go alone?"

"Yes. The only one in this house I could take with me without putting anyone else in danger is Agi... But she'd just get in the way. Stupid dog."

"She saved you before, remember? She came and got me. At least take her with you." Laz said sternly, "Take her or I'll tell your mother where you're going."

"Laz!" Taki hissed, "We can't tell her about this! And you want Sensei to come home safely, don't you?"

"You're taking Agi with you." She repeated, "End of discussion. I understand why I can't come... I don't _like_ it, but I understand... It would make me feel better if I knew you had her."

Taki groaned, "She'll be in the way!"

Laz shrugged, "She listens to you most of the time. As long as you tell her to stay out of the way, she probably will."

"Most of the time isn't good enough." Taki complained, though he was silenced by a glare from Laz. "...Fine, I'll take her." He muttered, lifting the dog up, "But we're leaving _now._The longer I wait, the more stronger this kid is going to get."

"Taki, at least wait until morning! You just stopped bleeding a few minutes ago." Laz reminded as Taki stood.

"I was lucky that kid didn't kill me that time... But the next time he'll know to be more thorough, and he'll be much stronger if I wait. Sorry, Laz." He snapped his fingers, "Agi, let's go," He commanded. Happy to follow her master's orders, the puppy ran to the door. He rarely invited her to go anywhere with him, so this was quite the turn of events. "We'll be back, Laz."

"You'd better come back," Laz confirmed, watching as the two of them left the room.

At the cemetery, Taki found that Laz had been correct. There was no sign that the meeting of undead and living had taken place there. For once, he was actually grateful for Agi's company. "Agi," He commanded, squatting down in front of her. He winced at the surprising amount of pain this caused, but continued, "Find Sensei." She gazed up at him, dumbfounded and he sighed. "Stupid dog. You're totally useless, you know that?" She tilted her head to the side, trying to figure out what he meant. Obviously Sensei wasn't there, so... Oh, wait! She began to sniff at the ground and soon found herself running towards the town. "Agi? Do you smell him?" Taki stood and chased after the dog, struggling to keep up. At least she had figured out what he meant though.

When the dog finally stopped running, Taki sat down beside her, panting. "Where did you take me, stupid do..." His voice trailed off as he looked up. He recognized this place... Taki had brought him back to his home... But it was engulfed in flames. His deep blue eyes widened, "Sensei?" He called, standing, "Sensei, where are you?!" He wasn't sure what he was more afraid of at the moment: losing the home of his childhood or the possibility that Shikimi might be inside.

Taki's heart sank when he recieved no response. "Agi, where is he?" He commanded, turning to the dog. She looked from the house to Taki, then back. "Are you sure he didn't leave another way? Go sniff around, stupid dog!" He snapped, his voice cracking. There had to be _something_he could do. He stood up and bolted inside of the still open door of his home. "Sensei?" He wheezed, trying to cover his mouth with his sleeve, "Sensei, are you in here?!"

"Why are you still alive?" A cold voice wondered from behind him. Upon turning to face this voice, he found that it was the priest he had been looking for.

"Sensei!" Taki exclaimed, relieved, "Come on, we've gotta get out of here!"

The former demon slammed the door shut, "This time I'll finish the job!"

Taki's face fell, "Shikimi?" He reached out to the man, but his hand was smacked away. "Sensei, come on! That kid's controlling you! Get a hold of yourself!" He reached out and grabbed Shikimi's shoulders, "Come on, you remember me, don't you? It's Taki... Remember? You're stronger than this! You were able to overcome the demon, you can do this too! Sensei!" Without even realizing it, Taki had begun to cry, "Come on, Sensei, wake up! We have to get out of here..."

* * *

Will they live? 0_o Of course they will! I still haven't said 'the end,' remember? Kind of a cute scene at the end though. See? I told you when I said soon it wouldn't mean a year later!


	4. A Hero's Going to Save Me Just in Time

Sorry for the delay~ I really... I have so many excuses, but I won't bore you with them. Instead- any fans of The Lonely Island (band) out there? Because I was rereading Black Sun, Silver Moon recently, and every time Laz said something it reminded me of the song "Threw it on the Ground." Because in the song he keeps saying "I'M AN ADULT!" And... Yeah. Oh Laz.

Anyway, this is a very Agi-oriented chapter. She needs more screen time, methinks. I'll italicize her "talking." You know how the author does the little Agi chatter that's always adorkable? I plan to include that here.

* * *

Shikimi stared blankly at Taki, seeming a bit uncertain, but he said simply, "This building has been on fire for over an hour. It won't be long now."

His blue eyes glistening with tears, the nightling asked, "What are you saying? Come on, snap out of it! Let's just go home... Don't tell me it's too late, Sensei, I know it's not. I know you're still in there, just like you were when the demon within me was in control. You have to try! don't you want to go home and see Agi and Laz and my brothers and sisters?"

"They're irrelevant. You, nightling... You must die." Shikimi responded bluntly.

Taki shook his head, "That's not you, Sensei, stop this!" Taki pleaded as the man stepped closer, forcing him further back toward the flames. Deciding he really couldn't run in this situation, he reached up to grab Shikimi by the shoulders, but soon found himself pinned to the ground by a fallen support beam. "Aagh!" He winced in pain, trying to wriggle his way out.

"Well, I suppose I'll be taking my leave now." The silver haired man stated, stepping onto the crooked beam that, conveniently enough, was still nailed to the roof on one end. Of course, this only served to crush Taki even more.

"Sensei..." He coughed, grabbing the man's ankle, "Please, stop this... I know you don't really want me dead, you wouldn't keep me around if that were the case... It's that boy from earlier that's gotten to you, think, Shikimi, what reason do you have to kill me?"

"You're a nightling." Shikimi stated, "I need no further reason. You disgust us."

Unable to hold on any longer as the carbon monoxide was beginning to make him dizzy, Taki let go of the man's ankle and lie there nearly lifeless. He couldn't give up... They'd come so far. Shikimi was in there somewhere. Why hadn't he shaken him off and bolted if he weren't hesitating? "Is that really what you think, Sensei? Is that what you really think after all we've been through, after I saved your life, your _humanity_, risking my own life for yours, you really want to kill me because I'm a nightling?"

He seemed to consider this for a moment before snapping, "No, stop trying to confuse me! Just die already!"

"I won't die unless and until you return to yourself, Sensei!" Taki shouted back, suddenly grabbing the beam defiantly, seeming to have his willpower back. "Do you remember what I said when you made me promise to kill you?" When Shikimi didn't respond, Taki answered for him, "I said that I'd kill you, and then myself. Remember? I won't let you go down without me! Especially not because of some damn kid!"

"Taki... I do remember..." Shikimi murmured. At that moment, the beam the former priest had been standing on snapped, leaving them without an escape, but at least Taki was able to push it off of himself.

His eyes locked on the ground, Shikimi said softly, "I'm... Sorry Taki, I don't know what got into me... I-"

"In case you haven't noticed, we're trapped in a burning building. If you're back to yourself, come up with a way to get us outta this!" Though Taki was happy to have his old Shikimi back, even he knew that this was no time for apologies.

The man was silent for a moment, thinking, before asking, "Taki, does anyone know you're here?"

"Just that stupid mutt. I told Laz I was going to the cemetery to look for you, and she made me bring Agi. Agi led me here." Taki replied, "It doesn't look like any exits are accessible... And nobody's going to call for help because people so rarely come out this way."

"But Agi's here. Taki, get on my shoulders." Shikimi instructed. The boy stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded. "Hurry!" He hissed, crouching down to make it easier. "You have to tell Agi to go get Laz and your mom. She'll listen to you." The priest explained as Taki stepped onto the other's shoulders. Shikimi stood up, and naturally, they wobbled a bit, but eventually they were straightened out.

"I can't see anything in this smoke," Taki complained, trying to fan some of it out of his face.

"You don't have to see her, she's a dog, she has sensitive hearing. Just yell so she can hear you over the fire, if she's still there." Shikimi instructed, "And hurry, I can't hold you forever."

"Agi! Agi!" Taki called, "Agi, bring Laz and my mom here! Hurry!"

Agi tilted her head. _Brother? I hear you... Why can't I see you?_ She stepped closer to the fire and lost some whiskers in the process. _Owowow hot! Hot!_

"Go bring Laz and my mother here, Agi!" He repeated, in case she'd missed it.

_Brother gave me a command? Anything, brother, anything for you!_ The dog happily bounded toward the house, retracing Taki's scent.

Shikimi and Taki both fell to the ground, coughing as ash flew up around them. "Stay low," Shikimi instructed, "Lay on your stomach and put your hands over your head, like this," Shikimi demonstrated, and Taki soon joined him, not questioning the point in this. "Try to avoid moving, there isn't much oxygen- the fire uses it all up. Whatever you do, don't fall asleep." Taki blinked. How had Shikimi known he was getting sleepy? It didn't matter. The other knew far more on pretty much every subject, so he knew better than to question.

* * *

Following Agi now

It wan't easy to keep running for so long, and of course, she was going a roundabout way, as she and Taki had stopped at the cemetery but eventually she made it home. She wasn't particularly surprised to see Laz outside, pacing. She'd seemed nervous before they left, too. _Sister! Sister! Brother and Sensei are in trouble!_ She tried to warn, but of course it just came out as barking.

"Shh, Agi, you're going to wake the kids... Hmm? Where are Taki and Shikimi?" Laz knelt down and noticed the singed fur and whiskers the undead puppy now sported. "Oh God, there's a fire?"

_Yes, yes, I have to tell Mother!_ Agi charged past Laz into the church and began sniffing around for Taki's mother. Thankfully, Laz was way ahead of the dog. The girl made her way to the woman's room, where she was humming her youngest child to sleep.

"Umm, Juhas-san?" Laz called nervously, "Taki and Shikimi got into a little trouble... It looks like there's fire involved, but I don't know the details... The dog found me." She added, pointing to the puppy at her feet.

The mother's face paled, "A fire? Oh, but I can't leave the children alone."

"Well bring them with, then!" Laz suggested, exasperated, "Agi wouldn't have come home without Taki if there wasn't something really scaring her about the situation. And her whiskers are singed, see?" She held the puppy up to show this. "We have to hurry! Besides, if they come, we can carry more buckets of water. I don't know how big the fire is..."

The woman thought for a moment. She didn't think it was particularly safe to bring the children along, but she couldn't leave them, either... And she couldn't just ignore the fact that Taki and Shikimi were in danger, either, after all they'd done for her and her children. "Very well..." She went from room to room waking the children and telling them all to put their shoes on while Laz passed out buckets and told the kids to go fill them. Of course, the two youngest would have to be carried, but the rest could help at least a little bit. Thankfully, Shikimi had become a bit paranoid about fires after the what had happened to his village and fiancee, so he kept several spare buckets in a storeroom, along with a few boxes of things he'd managed to save from the flames. Among them were one of the orphans' teddy bears, the ribbon he had given Amaria, and his old Bible and rosary, from when he was able to use his voice as a weapon to slay the ressurected. Laz had stumbled upon this room several months prior when she was trying to hide from Grey. She didn't dare question why Shikimi kept all this charred crap and the reason for all of the buckets, though she understood some of it now.

Several agonizing minutes later, the sleepy children were all assembled, struggling to hold buckets full of water. "Alright, Agi, lead the way. Where are Taki and Sensei? The graveyard, right?"

"The graveyard? Brother shouldn't play around there at night..." One of the children mumbled with a yawn. Of course this puzzled everyone, but Laz was the most surprised when Agi began running in an entirely different direction. "Agi!" She called, running after the dog. Thankfully, even the children were able to keep up with Agi, as the dog's legs were so stubby. This time, Agi didn't have to take the roundabout route through the graveyard. She could smell the smoke even from the church.

"Isn't this the way we came here?" One of the older, more awake, kids asked.

"Hmm? You're right... We're going toward our old house." Taki's mother replied thoughtfully. It all became clear when, over the next hill, flames lit the night sky. "Our home!" She exclaimed, running a bit faster now.

"Taki! Shikimi!" Laz charged toward the flames, the children and Agi left behind. They knew where they were going, at least. The burning house was enough of a landmark for them.

* * *

Taki and Shikimi

"Taki... Taki! I said don't fall asleep!" Shikimi scolded, reaching out to gently shake the other, "I hear something, Taki! Wake up!"

Taki's eyes opened slightly, "'m so tired, Sensei... Just a little..."

"No, Taki! Don't sleep, listen! Don't you hear that?" The priest asked, trying to get the boy's attention.

"Hear what? Let me sleep..." Taki mumbled, closing his eyes.

This time, much more clearly, Shikimi heard a voice he clearly recognized as Laz call "Shikimi! Taki! Are you in there?"

"Laz!" Shikimi choked, "Hurry, Laz, I can't keep Taki up!"

Laz sighed, looking back to Taki's mother, "I can't hear anything over the roar of the flames. I guess we just have to go based on the assumption they're in there and they're alive."

"Everyone put your buckets down and stand back," The worried mother warned. Bucket after bucket, the two women worked to put out as much of the fire as they could, but of course, there simply wasn't enough water. They'd managed to get the front of the house down to embers, but there wasn't enough to go any further. "We need more water..." The elder women commented, stating the obvious.

"No, wait... I think I see something." Laz rubbed her eyes, "Or at least... I feel something..." Removing his jacket to cover his nose and mouth with it, Laz took a decisive step toward the flames. At that moment, Shikimi burst through them, Taki in his arms. Both were on fire, but moving, at least. "Shikimi!" Laz blubbered as the man dropped Taki on the dirt and lie down beside him, rolling to put out the flames as he had learned to do in books. When Taki didn't mimic him, The man sighed and grabbed Laz's jacket, using it to suffocate the flames on Taki's body.

"Thank you, Laz, Juhas-san..." Shikimi said softly, looking to them, "But I'm afraid it might be too late for Taki. I couldn't keep him awake- the ashes and carbon monoxide rendered him unconscious." He sighed and rested his head on Taki's chest, listening for a heartbeat and breathing. "He's still alive, barely."

Sensing that something was wrong, Agi felt obligated to help, and jumped onto Taki's chest, licking his chin. _Brother? Why won't you wake up? Did I do a good job? Brother?_

Laz blinked away her tears, "What do you mean, barely? He can't die, he's a-"

"Laz. You understand, don't you? He/s not as strong as we'd like to think. Remember what you were taught." Shikimi reminded, not wanting to disturb the woman and her children with the news that their "brother" was half dead already.

The demon slayer considered this for a moment. She'd forgotten... Most Nightlings never even made it to his age. Of course he wasn't as strong as they'd thought. Perhaps his muscles were, but his organs and one muscle, the heart, could easily be an exception to that rule. "Taki... What do we do? Give him mouth to mouth?" She asked, not really understanding much about medicine.

Though he knew it was hardly the time for this, Shikimi couldn't help but chuckle, "No, Laz, that won't help. Just let him rest." He replied, standing up and taking the Nightling (and Agi) in his arms once more. "Let's go home."

* * *

Well, not as Agi-centric as I intended, but whatever. By the way, the title of this chapter? Lyrics from the song Hero by Skillet. Don't own Hero/lyrics of it or Skillet... But it's an awesome song, and band, for the most part. I just imagine other people in place of "Jesus/Lord/God" because I'm an atheist :D


End file.
